This invention relates to artificial trees, and more particularly concerns an artificial Christmas tree easily erectable from a compact storage state.
Artificial Christmas trees are well known. Most artificial Christmas trees comprise a multiplicity of separate branches each formed of a plurality of plastic needles held together by twisting a pair of wires about them. In other instances, the branches are formed by twisting a pair of wires about an elongated sheet of plastic material having a large multiplicity of transverse slits. In still other artificial Christmas trees, the branches are formed by injection molding of plastic.
Irrespective of the form of branch, the most common form of artificial Christmas tree comprises a wooden simulated trunk having a plurality of spaced apart apertures for reception of branches therein to thereby hold the branches in radially extending relation to the trunk to form the artificial Christmas tree. For purposes of storage, the branches are removable, requiring the repositioning of the branches on the trunk each time the tree is reassembled. The difficulty of this task is, however, somewhat reduced by color coding the apertures on the trunk with the ends of the branches.
To provide a tree which can be stored without occupying an unduly large amount of space and yet to avoid the need for totally dismantling the tree at the end of each Christmas season and reassembling at the beginning of the next, it has been proposed, as disclosed in a number of patents, to permanently pivotally affix the artificial branches of an artificial Christmas tree to the trunk thereof to permit movement of the branches between an outwardly deployed position and a storage position in which the branches lie close to the trunk and thereby occupy a comparatively small space. Such a structure was suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 1,683,637 issued to E. H. Trimpe on Sept. 11, 1928 as well as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,030,720 issued to Osswald et al on Apr. 24, 1962. However, both of these patents require elaborate assembly techniques, and in the case of the Osswald et al patent, a somewhat complex structure, thereby rendering both of these prior art patents of little importance in commercial development of artificial Christmas trees.
Most recently, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,574,102 and 3,639,196, both issued to T. Hermanson have disclosed other artificial Christmas trees with foldable branches. The structures disclosed therein, however, require that the trunk be apertured to permit insertion of either the rear ends of the branches or of a branch connecting member therein. In addition, the structure described in the two Hermanson patents requires some form of bifurcation at the ends of the branches, which bifurcation requires special tooling not heretofore employed in the making of artificial Christmas trees.
To avoid the necessity of aperturing the trunk, a number of patents have suggested providing a branch holder which may be secured to the trunk of the tree and to which a branch or branches may be secured for pivotal movement between an extended position and a collapsed position. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,708,324 issued to M. J. Wedden discloses a branch holder for pivotally securing a single branch to the trunk. However, the separate manipulation of branches for deployment and storage is time consuming and conducive to uneven deployment of the branches.
The problems presented by Wedden have been partially overcome by employing branch holders in the form of collars which may be distributed along the length of the trunk and to which a plurality of branches may be pivotally secured. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,616,107 issued to Kershner discloses a collar in which pivoting movement of the branches is accommodated by hinged portions which join the branches to a main collar. According to this patent, however, the branches are integrally formed with the collar. Moreover, since the branches are only joined to the main collar through the thin hinge portions, which therefore bear the entire weight of the branch when same is in the collapsed position, possible failure of these collars with prolonged use is possible.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide an artificial Christmas tree which can be easily erected from a collapsed compact storage state.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an artificial Christmas tree as in the foregoing object whose branches are sufficient in number and distribution to provide a tree having a full and uniform appearance.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an artificial tree of the aforesaid nature of rugged and durable construction amenable to low cost manufacture.
These objects and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description.